Fencing assembly

ABSTRACT

A palisade security fencing assembly  10  with a plurality of spaced upright posts  12 , with cross bars  16 A, B and C extending therebetween. A plurality of pale members  18  are mounted to the cross bars  16 A, B and C. The pale members  18  are profiled to define a recess facing the cross bars  16 A, B and C. The pale members  18  are mounted to the cross bars  16 A, B, C by rivet arrangements  36 , with a front end  38  of the rivet arrangements  36  located in the recess, and a rear end  40  of the rivet arrangement  36  on the rear side of the cross bar  16 A, B and C, thereby substantially preventing unauthorised access to the rivet arrangements  36.

This invention concerns palisade fencing, and particularly but notexclusively metal security palisade fencing, and also a kit of parts forforming a palisade fencing assembly.

Palisade security fences are generally made of metal and have astructure along the following lines. A plurality of posts which aremountable on the ground to be upstanding therefrom are provided, with aplurality of cross bars extending between respective adjacent posts. Aplurality of elongate pales are mounted on the cross bars to extendsubstantially vertically between each pair of posts to provide a barriertherebetween. Conventionally the pales have been mounted to the crossbars by nuts and bolts or other fixings, which fixings can be vulnerableto attack or vandalism, thereby potentially enabling unlawful access tobe obtained through the fence.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided apalisade fencing assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of spacedground engaging posts, a plurality of cross bars extending betweenadjacent posts, a plurality of elongate pale members extending generallyvertically between the posts to provide a barrier, the pale membersbeing mounted to the cross bars on a front side thereof by a pluralityof mounting arrangements, the pale members being profiled to engageagainst the cross bars at two contact points and to extend forwardstherebetween to define a recess facing the cross bar, each mountingarrangement including a mounting part provided on the respective palemember extending between the two contact points across the recess, and afastening means extending between the cross bar and the mounting part,with one end of the fastening means locating in the recess, and theother end of the fastening means locating behind the respective crossbar.

The fastening means may be in the form of a blind fastener, and may bein the form of a rivet arrangement.

The mounting part may be in the form of a plate, and a discrete platemay be provided for each mounting arrangement. The plate may extend fora greater height than the height of the cross member, so as to spreadany load along the pale member.

The posts may be hollow, and the cross members may engage in openings inthe sides of the posts. The openings may be profiled to correspond tothe profile of the cross members.

Some or all of the openings may be profiled such that an end of thecross member can locate therein and then be lowered such that aformation on the cross member engages with the opening to prevent thecross member from being slid laterally out of the opening.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apalisade fencing assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of spacedground engaging hollow posts, a plurality of cross bars extendingbetween adjacent posts, a plurality of elongate pale members extendinggenerally vertically between the posts to provide a barrier, the palemembers being mounted to the cross bars by a plurality of mountingarrangements, the cross members engaging in openings in the sides of theposts, which openings are profiled to correspond to the profile of thecross members, with some or all or all of the openings being profiledsuch that an end of the cross member can locate therein and then belowered such that a formation on the cross member engages with theopening to prevent the cross member from being slid laterally out of theopening.

The assembly may be according to any of the preceding six paragraphs.

The cross member may have an L-shaped profile, and one limb of the L maypoint rearwardly with the other limb pointing downwardly.

In one embodiment an anti cut bar extends through the recess on eachpale member, and is a loose fit therein. The anti cut bar may be mountedto the pale for only a part of the length thereof. The anti cut bar maybe mounted to the pale at an upper part thereof, may also be mounted ata lower part thereof, and may be mounted at one or more locations alongthe length thereof. A pair of anti cut bars may be mounted in eachrecess.

The bars may be cylindrical, and may be made of high tensile steel. Theposts, cross bars and/or pale members may be made of metal.

A mesh may be mounted on the rear of the assembly.

The invention further provides a kit of parts to form a palisade fencingassembly according to any of the preceding seven paragraphs.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way ofexample only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic front view of part of a first palisade fencingassembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the part of the assembly shown in

FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged parts of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of a further part of a palisadefencing assembly;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic front view of a section of the part shown inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of a second palisade fencingassembly according to the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the assembly of FIG. 7.

The drawings show parts of a first palisade security fencing assembly10. The assembly 10 includes a plurality of spaced posts 12 mounted tothe ground for instance in concrete 14 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Between each pair of adjacent posts 12 three spaced cross bars 16A, B, Cextend, with the bar 16A being uppermost. A plurality of pale members 18are mounted on the cross bars 16A, B, C and extend vertically betweenthe posts 12 to provide a barrier therebetween. FIG. 1 shows twenty palemembers 18 provided between a pair of posts 12, but different numbers ofpale members may be provided as required.

The posts 12 are formed of hollow square section tube with roundedcorners. The cross bars 16A, B, C are formed from L-shaped section bars,with one limb 20 facing rearwardly and the other limb 22 pointingdownwardly.

The pale members 18 are profiled so as to define at each side engagementparts 24 engageable with the cross bars 16A, B, C and an outwardlyextending profile to define a recess 26 therebehind facing the crossbars 16A, B, C.

A mounting part in the form of a plate 28 is provided on the palemembers 18 at each connection thereof with a respective one of the crossbars 16A, B, C. The plates 28 extend for a greater height than theheight of the downwardly extending limbs 22 of the cross bar 16A, B, C.

For mounting the cross bars 16A, B, C to the posts 12, laser cutL-shaped openings 30 are provided in the side walls of the posts 12. Theopenings 30 have a profile with a thicker cross limb than the thicknessof the limb 20 such that the cross bars 16A, B, C can be pushed into theopenings 30 and dropped. A slot 32 is provided spaced a short distancefrom the ends of each of the cross bars 16A, B, C to engage with thelower end of the opening 30 when the cross bars 16A, B, C are droppedthereinto, to prevent the cross bars 16A, B, C being slid laterally outof the openings 30.

The pale members 18 are mounted to the cross bars 16A, B, C by fasteningmeans in the form of rivet arrangements 36 extending through alignedholes in the cross bars 16A, B, C and plates 28. This means that a frontend 38 of the rivet members is located in the recess 26, whilst theother end 40 of the rivet assembly 36 is on the rear side of the crossbar 16A, B, C, and beneath the rearwardly extending limb 20 thereof.

In use the assembly 10 can be erected as follows. The posts 12 are fixedin position and retained therein by the concrete 14. The cross bars 16A,B, C are located extending between the posts 12 in engagement with therespective openings 30. It is to be realised that the assembly 10 canfollow the ground profile, such that the cross bars 16A, B, C will notnecessarily extend horizontally and may rather follow the groundprofile.

The pale members 18 are now mounted on the cross bar 16A, B, C byinserting the rivet arrangements 36 from behind. It is to be realisedthat once the pale members 18 have been mounted on the cross bars 16A,B, C the cross bars 16, B, C and pale members 18 cannot be removed frombetween the posts 12 due to the engagement of the slots 32 with theopenings 30.

There is thus described a palisade security fencing assembly whichprovides for a number of advantages. For instance, once assembled accessto the fastening means cannot be achieved from the front of the fencewith protection being provided by the rivet assemblies 36 being locatedin the recesses 26.

The construction of the assembly 10 is also such that it is not possiblefor persons on the front side of the assembly 10 to be able to interferewith the mounting of the cross bars 16A, B, C on the posts 12. Theassembly therefore provides a rigid and secure assembly, yet one whichcan readily be assembled in situ as described above.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention. For instance the cross bars or other components may havea different profile. A different number of cross bars and/or palemembers can be used. Different fastening means may be used. Differentmaterials could be used in the components.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second fencing assembly 50 which is similar in mostaspects to the assembly 10, and only the differences will be described.In this instance, two anti cut bars 52 are provided one towards eachside of each pale member 18. The bars 52 are mounted to the pale members18 by welding just at the top and bottom thereof such that for themajority of their length the bars 52 are loose relative to the palemember. This has been found to act as a significant deterrent to personstrying to cut through the pale members 18. The assembly 50 has anadditional security measure with a mesh 54 mounted on the rear sidethereof as shown in FIG. 8.

Additional features may be provided on the assembly to enhance security.The pale members are shown as having pointed upper ends 46, and ifrequired other anti-climbing features, structures or materials could beprovided on the assembly 10. For instance barbed wire may be provided ata lower end of the assembly.

It is to be realised that a wide range of variations of fencing may beproduced, which include the above described mounting of the cross barson the posts with shaped openings and slots or other features to preventrelative sliding therebetween, irrespective of whether or not the palemembers are mounted to the cross bars as described above, and/or whetherbars are located in the recesses of the pale members to hinder cuttingthereof.

Assemblies may be provided where such formations are also provided onthe upper cross bars, and obviously different numbers of cross bars maybe provided as required. The pale members may have many different shapesas required by particular situations. The anti cut bars may be mountedto the pale members at other locations, or in some instances may not bemounted to the pale members at all.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention tothose features of the invention believed to be of particular importanceit should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respectof any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbeforereferred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particularemphasis has been placed thereon.

1-26. (canceled)
 27. A palisade fencing assembly, the assemblycomprising a plurality of spaced ground engaging posts, a plurality ofcross bars extending between adjacent posts, a plurality of elongatepale members extending generally vertically between the posts to providea barrier, the pale members being mounted to the cross bars on a frontside thereof by a plurality of mounting arrangements, the pale membersbeing profiled to engage against the cross bars at two contact pointsand to extend forwards therebetween to define a recess facing the crossbar, each mounting arrangement including a mounting part provided on therespective pale member extending between the two contact points acrossthe recess, and a fastening means extending between the cross bar andthe mounting part, with one end of the fastening means locating in therecess, and the other end of the fastening means locating behind therespective cross bar.
 28. An assembly according to claim 27, in whichthe fastening means is in the form of a blind fastener.
 29. An assemblyaccording to claim 28, in which the fastening means is in the form of arivet arrangement.
 30. An assembly according to claim 27, in which themounting part is in the form of a plate.
 31. An assembly according toclaim 30, in which a discrete plate is provided for each mountingarrangement.
 32. An assembly according to claim 30, in which the plateextends for a greater height than the height of the cross bar, so as tospread any load along the plate member.
 33. An assembly according toclaim 27, in which the posts are hollow.
 34. An assembly according toclaim 33, in which the cross bars engage in openings in the sides of theposts.
 35. An assembly according to claim 34, in which the openings areprofiled to correspond to the profile of the cross bars.
 36. An assemblyaccording to claim 34, in which some or all of the openings are profiledsuch that an end of the cross bar can locate therein and then be loweredsuch that a formation on the cross bar engages with the opening toprevent the cross bar from being slid laterally out of the opening. 37.A palisade fencing assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality ofspaced ground engaging hollow posts, a plurality of cross bars extendingbetween adjacent posts, a plurality of elongate pale members extendinggenerally vertically between the posts to provide a barrier, the palemembers being mounted to the cross bars by a plurality of mountingarrangements, the cross bars engaging in openings in the sides of theposts, which openings are profiled to correspond to the profile of thecross bars, with some or all or all of the openings being profiled suchthat an end of the cross bar can locate therein and then be lowered suchthat a formation on the cross bar engages with the opening to preventthe cross bar from being slid laterally out of the opening.
 38. Anassembly according to claim 37, in which the fastening means is in theform of a blind fastener.
 39. An assembly according to claim 38, inwhich the fastening means is in the form of a rivet arrangement.
 40. Anassembly according to claim 37, in which the cross bar has an L-shapedprofile.
 41. An assembly according to claim 40, in which one limb of theL points rearwardly with the other limb pointing downwardly.
 42. Anassembly according to claim 27, in which a loose bar extends through therecess on each pale member, the recesses being defined between the palemembers and the cross bars, the loose bar being a loose fit in therecess, and being mounted to the pale for only a part of the lengththereof.
 43. An assembly according to claim 42, in which the loose baris mounted to the pale at an upper part thereof.
 44. An assemblyaccording to claim 43, in which the loose bar is also mounted to thepale at a lower part thereof.
 45. An assembly according to claim 42, inwhich a pair of loose bars is mounted in each recess.
 46. An assemblyaccording to claim 42, in which the bars are cylindrical, and are madeof high tensile steel.
 47. An assembly according to claim 27, in whichthe posts, cross bars and/or pale members are made of metal.
 48. A kitof parts to form a palisade fencing assembly according to claim 27.